By Gordon
Coulson
During the dark ages, the Roman Catholic Church attempted to
achieve unity by force. Dissention was
simply not tolerated. Many true
Christians were persecuted and killed for questioning official church
doctrine. The Reformation attempted to
produce a new church, one that would be united in worship and free from the
idolatrous practices of
One body
there is, and one spirit, even as YOU
were called in the one hope to which YOU
were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and
Father of all [persons], who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians
4:4-6, NWT)
How can we achieve this? How can our Christian fellowships be unified in worship? We suggest the following guiding principle:
“In essentials unity, in non-essentials freedom, in
all things love.”
Essentials are those scriptural beliefs and practices that are absolutely necessary for salvation. Unfortunately some religious organizations have developed belief systems beyond these essentials which are then imposed on their followers.
The
great thinker and Christian writer John Locke, in The Reasonableness of
Christianity, written in 1695, protested against this. Note he was protesting against the Church of
England, not the Roman Catholic Church.
I allow to the makers of systems and their followers to invent and use what distinctions they please and to call things by what names they think fit. But I cannot allow to them, or to any man, an authority to make a religion for me or to alter that which God hath revealed.
We must clearly differentiate biblical essentials from the teachings that the “makers of systems” devise. We must examine the scriptures to see what essential beliefs Jesus and the Apostles preached, and more specifically, what beliefs were considered essential for salvation.
A good rule of thumb, when trying to determine biblical
truth, is the following. If a teaching
is an explicit bible teaching, then we should believe it. If it is an interpretation, or opinion of man,
then it should be held as tentative or of secondary importance. It may or may not be true. For example, an explicit bible teaching is
“Jesus is the Christ”, or “God created the heavens and the earth.” These
teachings are clearly and unambiguously stated in scripture, and we must
believe them if we believe God’s Word is true.
An example of interpretation is “
The bible clearly teaches that Jesus was the Messiah, but was belief in him sufficient for salvation? We will examine the book of Acts and Paul’s writings to see what the disciples viewed as essential for salvation.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the
one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(1 Cor
36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of
this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to
Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
38Peter replied, "Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 2:36-39)
Philip opened his mouth and, starting with this Scripture, he declared to him the good news about
Jesus. 36 Now as they were going over the road, they came to a
certain body of water, and the eunuch said: “Look! A body of water; what
prevents me from getting baptized?” 37 —— 38 With that he
commanded the chariot to halt, and they both went down into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (Acts 8:34-39)
43
To him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness, that everyone putting faith in him gets forgiveness of sins through his
name.” Acts 10:34-38
“Sirs, what must I do to get saved?” They said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and
you will get saved, you and your household.” (Acts
For if you publicly
declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God
raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
So we see, from scripture, the belief essential for salvation is the belief that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. No man or religious organization is authorized to impose additional beliefs on us, claiming they are essential. Of course belief in Jesus implies a belief in God the Father of our Lord, who sent him. We cannot believe in Jesus without believing in God the Father, creator of all things. This belief is implied if we believe Jesus, Son of God, is the Christ.
What about the
The
Jesus Christ is both priest and king in the manner of
Melchizedek (Heb 5:6). He saves us from
our sins and is the embodiment and representative of God’s Kingdom, since he is
the king of that kingdom. By keeping
Jesus Christ central in our fellowships, and not doctrinal systems, we avoid
the arguments and divisions over details of what the
John Locke, in The Reasonableness of Christianity, summarizes:
But
considering the frailty of man, apt to run into corruption and misery, he [God]
promised a deliverer, whom in his good time he sent, and then declared to all
mankind, that whoever would believe him to be the Savior promised and take him
(now raised from the dead and constituted the Lord and Judge of all men) to be
their King and Ruler, should be saved.
This is a plain, intelligible proposition, and the all-merciful God
seems herein to have consulted the poor of this world and the bulk of mankind.
God’s Word the Bible
We are assuming, in this investigation, that the bible is the Word of God. Without this assumption, it would be impossible to find agreement on belief, since there is nothing else from which to measure or test a belief upon. We also note that the apostles and Jesus himself had the highest regard for scripture as then written, quoting from it liberally. The second essential, then, is that the bible is God’s Word and therefore true.
16 All Scripture is inspired of God
and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for
disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully
competent, completely equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
Our Christian essentials, then, can be reduced to the following three points:
o There is one God, our Heavenly Father, creator of all things, to whom we render exclusive worship
o Jesus Christ, the son of God, is our Lord, Savior and King, the only mediator between God and man
o The bible is the Word of God
Our Christian unity, then, at least as far as essential doctrine, should be based on these essentials. We should not impose additional beliefs on our brothers, claiming that these are important for salvation. We should keep Jesus Christ central in the worship of our Heavenly Father, always remembering the love the Father had for us in that He gave his only son so we could have life. If we keep this in mind, it will be a unifying force in our fellowships.
Worshipping our Heavenly Father, accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, and the bible as the Word of God are certainly essentials, yet the Christian is expected to progress beyond basic teachings.
6
For this reason, now that we have left the primary doctrine about the Christ,
let us press on to maturity (Hebrews 6:6).
So the new Christian is encouraged to study God’s Word,
meditate upon it, pray about it, read books about it, and discuss it with other
Christians, as he or she progresses to Christian maturity. It is important for us all to do this, but it
is equally important to understand that these things are not essential for
salvation. What things are we talking
about?
These are all important questions for study, and many brothers and sisters have developed some interesting and thought-provoking views. But again, although important questions, these are not essentials for salvation according to scripture. We should allow maximum freedom to our brothers in Non-Essentials. Where we have points of difference, instead of getting into protracted arguments, why not simply state our position, have a discussion, and then move on? Ongoing arguments over non-essential points of doctrine divide and cause hurt feelings. Christians should instead show humility, love, and patience with their brothers and sisters. We should have the faith that Jesus Christ, head of his congregation, knows how to teach each of us. We should then show patience and allow him to do this.
A word of caution may be in order. We shouldn’t attempt to suppress discussion in our fellowships, in an attempt to avoid arguments. This is not a healthy situation. Our brothers and sisters must be able to express their beliefs and ideas in an atmosphere of freedom, and we should listen respectfully. We should try hard to understand what they are saying and why they believe what they believe. We should never ridicule someone for having a particular belief, but we should simply present our scriptural view, and trust the Lord to lead them in his time. We should also have the humility to admit when we are wrong, and be willing to change our beliefs.
Correct doctrine is
important if we are to worship in “spirit and truth” (John
Note that highly principled
Christian love begins with Jesus and his Father:
“If anyone loves me, he will observe my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23)
“And I have made your [the Father’s] name known to them and
will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in
them and I in union with them.” (John 17:26)
Note the encouragement to love our
brothers and sisters:
34
“I am giving YOU a new commandment, that YOU love one another; just as I have loved YOU, that YOU
also love one another. 35 By this all will know that YOU are my disciples, if YOU have love among yourselves.” (John
13:34-35)
“This is my commandment, that YOU
love one another just as I have loved YOU.
13 No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his
soul in behalf of his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
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Do not YOU people be owing anybody a single
thing, except to love one another. (Rom 13:8)
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. (I Cor 8:1-3)
In brotherly love have tender affection for one another. In showing honor to one another take the lead. (Romans 12:10)
Through love slave for one another. (Gal 15:13)
What do
these scriptures tell us?
True, principled, Christian love is the most powerful source
of unity—much more powerful than agreeing to a doctrinal system. If the person of Jesus Christ is central, and
we have a deep love and devotion to him and our Heavenly Father, as well as to
our brothers and sisters, then it will be difficult for divisions to arise. In such an environment, doctrinal truth will
increasingly emerge as the Lord gently leads each Christian in their walk with
him. Instead of imposing doctrine, we allow
truth to emerge naturally, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, according
to scripture, and under the leadership of our teacher and Lord, Jesus Christ.
“In essentials unity, in non-essentials freedom, in
all things love.”